My Idiot Status is Comfirmed, Can Someone Help me Fix This?!

Ok, I am officially an idiot. I somehow got my magazine stuck in my AK. I went to put the magazine back in place and put it in wrong. The back snapped into place with the front not even in the mag well and it can't be pushed in. Now the mag release won't release the back end of the magazine. Can someone help me shake it loose?

Ok, I am officially an idiot. I somehow got my magazine stuck in my AK. I went to put the magazine back in place and put it in wrong. The back snapped into place with the front not even in the mag well and it can't be pushed in. Now the mag release won't release the back end of the magazine. Can someone help me shake it loose?

No, you're not an idiot. Almost every person I know who owns and shoots an AK regularly has done this at least once, usually during a speed reload drill. I've done it at least twice, and although I'm biased on the subject, I don't think I'm an idiot.

The fix is different for different guns. Sometimes you can flip the gun over and look up into the magazine catch area and see the latch and mating shelf on the rear of the mag. A little gently prying with a slim screwdriver or something similar will allow it to pop free. Occasionally, the mag gets a bit twisted in the magazine well, so the latch shelf on the mag is over the magazine latch supports, instead of the latch itself. Other times a bit of brute force is required, although if there is ammo in the magazine, I'd recommend against beating on it. Try tapping the base of the mag forward to get it to seat normally, then you can release it with the latch. Or, squeeze and hold the mag release in as far as you can with one hand, while wiggling and pulling the magazine in various directions with the other hand. Remember, you don't always have to be trying to remove the mag directly; if you can wiggle it around so it finishes seating normally, then it will pop right out the next time you hit the mag release.

Got the mag out at about 4:00 this morning. Woke up to answer the call of nature and she was just sitting there staring at me. After a few more wacks I got frustrated and she met the wall. It loosened the release enough that I was able to brace her with my feet and pry it back with a screwdriver, which then made the mag pop free. I wasn't able to get the screwdriver in there before that.

The mag is a total loss, unfortunetly. All the wacking and jimmying ended up scrapping the mag up and took chunks off it. It left jagged pieces that blocked it from going in. I tried to file them down and now the mag won't seat. Which is fine, it was sort of nasty anyway. Now I have an excuse to replace it.

And you'll be glad to know she shoots like a dream. More accurate than I was expecting, and that recoil was bizzare. I'm not used to semi-auto rifles so to me it felt really cool. But I can see now why people buy 7.62x39 by the case load. LOL!

Thanks for all the help, guys. I really appreciate it!

P.S. "Fadia" mentioned above is the AK, yes. You all know I name my guns.

Glad you got it out, even if the mag is totaled. That'll teach a magazine to mess with YOU!

That rocking motion required to properly seat a mag in the AK-style guns is one of the reasons I'm not real fond of them. Every other detachable-magazine-fed centerfire firearm I own, and the majority of those I've fired, allow/encourage/require a straight-up-into-the-gun insertion of the mag (I suppose my 10/22 is an exception, but only with the aftermarket mags). Military guns like the M14, FAL, and others have used mags that require a similar motion, but to those of us heavily trained on the AR-style guns, rocking-mag changes seem hopelessly slow and awkward.